In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,017,391, 4,888,191 and 4,798,729, as well as in the prior art described in these patents, it is pointed out that sodium lactate can be added to meat products such as ham and sausage in amounts of 1 to 3% to poultry and fish in an amount of 1 to 7% to improve the resistance of the meat to bacterial growth and particularly to control Clostridium botulinum which can occur in meats and poultries which are packaged and cooked, but not sterilized.
The Clostridium botulinum can grow in such meats and produce a toxin. As a consequence, it is desirable or necessary to somehow control the growth of bacteria in meat, including red meats such as hams, and poultry, or to sterilize the meat if the meat is to be subject to storage.
It should also be noted that citric acid and sodium citrate are generally recognized as safe in foodstuffs and are on the GRAS list issued by the Food and Drug Administration. Finally, mention should be made of the fact that sodium citrate in an amount up to 0.3% by weight of the meat, is approved as a curing accelerator. The sodium citrate can be added as a part of the curing process of cured meats such as ham. Nevertheless, it is desirable to improve the appearance, flavor retention and storage life of meats and, specifically, to provide improved ways of limiting bacterial growth generally and the growth of Clostridium botulinum in particular.